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I figured I’d tell you a little about me, if you’re interested in the person behind the words & photos.
A little over 6 decades ago (62 yrs last November), I was unleashed upon the world. Born in Hawthorne, California (suburb of Los Angeles). We lived in Redondo Beach (another ‘burb) until I finished elementary school (1972), then we moved to Fontana (about 55 miles east of L.A.); living there while I was in Junior High. In 1975, we then relocated to Central Texas, where Dad had some aunts & uncles & such. Small town called Lometa, with a population of about 650 people on a good day. That was where I graduated High School. Mom & Dad split up in 1978, my graduating year; he moved up to the Dallas/Fort Worth area & I stayed in Lometa with Mom.
After finishing high school, I was going to go to Texas State Technical Institute (aka TSTI), on a full free ride from the state. But, after attending for 3 days, I realized that the instructors didn’t seem to care…something just didn’t feel right about it. A disturbance in the Force, perhaps. So I left, and embarked on a fairly long “career” of construction work. I’ve worked for the US Government (Young Adult Conservation Corps or YACC)…built custom homes with a crew in the Central TX area…commercial construction in the Austin area (pouring more concrete than I care to remember)…commercial drywall & acoustic ceilings…worked at Fort Hood for a while in the mid-80s, where I got to see the first 5 Apache helicopters in the air (we built the motorpool buildings for the Apache support crews)…worked for a while at a computer company (CompuAdd) in their retail support department…along with a few other “temp” jobs until moving in 1989 here to Des Moines, Iowa.
Married twice. First time, no kids, lasted 2 years. Second time, from about 1987 until 1993, two kids…daughter (30); son (29). Daughter's a Rural Carrier (Postal job), and the son works for a major mechanical contractor. I guess technically I’ve been married 3 times; I’ve been with the current one since 1993, so we’re common-law. She’s got 2 grown sons.
In 1989, when the ex & I moved here from Texas, I went to work for a company called Stone Container. At the time, it was a pretty big company that made all sorts of paper & corrugated fiberboard (aka “cardboard”) products; I worked at the “box plant”, making the previously mentioned cardboard stuff. In 1993, I went to work for the US Postal Service. I worked in a facility called a Bulk Mail Center (now called Network Distribution Centers). More of a factory-like setting, taking mail off of trucks & processing it, then loading onto other trucks. I was what they call a Mailhandler, and for 20 years I was a Mailhandler Equipment Operator (fancy name for a forklift driver). I retired in 2018, taking what’s called an “early out”….retiring at 25 years with a full 30-year benefits package.
In 2010, I was diagnosed with cancer, and I spent about half of that year in and out of the hospital. It hasn’t come back, but now (since 2019) I’m dealing with kidney issues. Yay Me.
My music tastes run anywhere from Metal to Bluegrass, veering off into a little Classical at times. No Rap, please.
The only way to have iced tea is sweet tea. No exceptions. No lemon, ever (if I wanted lemonade, I’d have ordered lemonade!).
I like to read, as does the wife. I think between us we have a collection of over 2000 books (I’ve got 223 Star Wars novels alone, in timeline order). I also collect knives, swords, and other pointy throwy stabby things….I’m well-prepped for the Zombie Apocalypse, not to mention the firearms.
So, there you have it. Me. Nobody special, even though according to one of my late aunts (genealogy buff), I’m the 15th direct male descendant of Charlemagne. Yay Me again.
This thread is where I may let my mind loose to play. I've found that a little "free time" keeps it from going too far off the deep end.
A little over 6 decades ago (62 yrs last November), I was unleashed upon the world. Born in Hawthorne, California (suburb of Los Angeles). We lived in Redondo Beach (another ‘burb) until I finished elementary school (1972), then we moved to Fontana (about 55 miles east of L.A.); living there while I was in Junior High. In 1975, we then relocated to Central Texas, where Dad had some aunts & uncles & such. Small town called Lometa, with a population of about 650 people on a good day. That was where I graduated High School. Mom & Dad split up in 1978, my graduating year; he moved up to the Dallas/Fort Worth area & I stayed in Lometa with Mom.
After finishing high school, I was going to go to Texas State Technical Institute (aka TSTI), on a full free ride from the state. But, after attending for 3 days, I realized that the instructors didn’t seem to care…something just didn’t feel right about it. A disturbance in the Force, perhaps. So I left, and embarked on a fairly long “career” of construction work. I’ve worked for the US Government (Young Adult Conservation Corps or YACC)…built custom homes with a crew in the Central TX area…commercial construction in the Austin area (pouring more concrete than I care to remember)…commercial drywall & acoustic ceilings…worked at Fort Hood for a while in the mid-80s, where I got to see the first 5 Apache helicopters in the air (we built the motorpool buildings for the Apache support crews)…worked for a while at a computer company (CompuAdd) in their retail support department…along with a few other “temp” jobs until moving in 1989 here to Des Moines, Iowa.
Married twice. First time, no kids, lasted 2 years. Second time, from about 1987 until 1993, two kids…daughter (30); son (29). Daughter's a Rural Carrier (Postal job), and the son works for a major mechanical contractor. I guess technically I’ve been married 3 times; I’ve been with the current one since 1993, so we’re common-law. She’s got 2 grown sons.
In 1989, when the ex & I moved here from Texas, I went to work for a company called Stone Container. At the time, it was a pretty big company that made all sorts of paper & corrugated fiberboard (aka “cardboard”) products; I worked at the “box plant”, making the previously mentioned cardboard stuff. In 1993, I went to work for the US Postal Service. I worked in a facility called a Bulk Mail Center (now called Network Distribution Centers). More of a factory-like setting, taking mail off of trucks & processing it, then loading onto other trucks. I was what they call a Mailhandler, and for 20 years I was a Mailhandler Equipment Operator (fancy name for a forklift driver). I retired in 2018, taking what’s called an “early out”….retiring at 25 years with a full 30-year benefits package.
In 2010, I was diagnosed with cancer, and I spent about half of that year in and out of the hospital. It hasn’t come back, but now (since 2019) I’m dealing with kidney issues. Yay Me.
My music tastes run anywhere from Metal to Bluegrass, veering off into a little Classical at times. No Rap, please.
The only way to have iced tea is sweet tea. No exceptions. No lemon, ever (if I wanted lemonade, I’d have ordered lemonade!).
I like to read, as does the wife. I think between us we have a collection of over 2000 books (I’ve got 223 Star Wars novels alone, in timeline order). I also collect knives, swords, and other pointy throwy stabby things….I’m well-prepped for the Zombie Apocalypse, not to mention the firearms.
So, there you have it. Me. Nobody special, even though according to one of my late aunts (genealogy buff), I’m the 15th direct male descendant of Charlemagne. Yay Me again.
This thread is where I may let my mind loose to play. I've found that a little "free time" keeps it from going too far off the deep end.
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